Suicide Note

The body of a 54-year-old Frederick, Md., man was pulled from the Potomac River at Point of Rocks State Park on Sunday, according to a Maryland State Police news release. Police found a suicide note in the man's home, state police said. The body was taken to the chief medical examiner's office in Baltimore to determine the cause and manner of death. A bicyclist reported seeing the body in the water along the river bank around 4 p.m. Sunday, police said. Carroll Manor Fire Co. firefighters recovered the body, which was in a cove along the river.

BEDFORD, Va. (AP) -- A Bedford County judge has ordered the Lynchburg News & Advance to disclose the name of a person who anonymously posted comments about a murder trial on the newspaper's website. The poster claimed to be one of the jurors who convicted former Chesapeake school administrator Wesley Earnest of murdering his estranged wife, Jocelyn Branham Earnest. The poster said the jury reviewed the victim's journals, but those materials were not introduced into evidence.

MARTINSBURG, W.VA. - Jury selection is expected to begin at 9 a.m. today in Berkeley County Circuit Court in the trial of a man allegedly hired to kill Debbie K. Bivens of Inwood, W.Va., in August 2005. In a pretrial hearing Monday for Timothy Charles Odell, 23rd Judicial Circuit judge Christopher C. Wilkes decided to allow a suicide note - apparently written by the man who hired the accused - to be introduced to the jury as part of the state's case. The jury is expected to be selected from a pool of 50 people.

MARTINSBURG, W.VA. - A man who is accused in the slaying of an Inwood, W.Va., woman in August 2005 gave a statement to police that is admissible as evidence in his Sept. 26 trial, Berkeley County Circuit Judge Christopher C. Wilkes ruled Friday. Timothy Charles Odell, 26, was indicted in February by a grand jury on one count each of murder and conspiracy to commit murder after allegedly agreeing to kill Debbie K. Bivens, 46, at her Camelot subdivision home. "I'm finding that the statement was voluntarily given ... " Wilkes said after reviewing a transcript of a digital video disc recording provided by Odell's court-appointed attorney, B. Craig Manford.

HANCOCK - A man with what authorities believe were self-inflicted stab wounds was found Friday in Hancock's Widmeyer Park. The man was taken to Washington County Hospital in critical condition, according to Washington County Sheriff's Department deputies. Hancock Town Manager David Smith was the first to spot the man. "He was outside his car on the ground," Smith said. Sometimes people will sleep in vehicles in the park, but Smith was suspicious because the man was on the ground.

HANCOCK -- A man with what authorities believe were self-inflicted stab wounds was found Friday in Hancock's Widmeyer Park. The man was taken to Washington County Hospital in critical condition, according to Washington County Sheriff's Department deputies. Hancock Town Manager David Smith was the first to spot the man. "He was outside his car on the ground," Smith said. Sometimes people will sleep in vehicles in the park, but Smith was suspicious because the man was on the ground.

HAGERSTOWN - The man responsible for a botched murder-suicide pleaded guilty Thursday morning in Washington County Circuit Court to attempted first-degree murder of his ex-girlfriend. Mark Steven Sande, 42, asked his ex-girlfriend if she was "ready to meet Jesus" and then slashed her in the face and neck repeatedly with a razor-like weapon Dec. 4, 2006, Assistant State's Attorney Viki Pauler said Thursday as she recited the state's statement of facts. Washington County Circuit Judge M. Kenneth Long Jr. accepted Sande's guilty plea and ordered a presentence investigation.

MARTINSBURG, W.VA. martinsburg@herald-mail.com A Maryland man wanted in connection with the alleged murder-for-hire of an Inwood, W.Va., woman last week was found dead Wednesday night, apparently of a suicide, police said. Benjamin Brookman, 47, of Salisbury, Md., was found dead in a wooded area near Powellville, Md., police said. "He had apparently hung himself," said Cpl. Brendan Hall of the Berkeley County Sheriff's Department. "He left a 13-page suicide letter and it did make some mention of the murder of Ms. (Debbie)

Recently, an acquaintance of mine used a gun to commit suicide. This person had been depressed for years and had several recent traumatic events occur that I believe added to the depression. Though suicided by guns figures prominently in this column, I am not writing about weapons. This column is about mental health. In shooting incidents in Aurora, Colo., and Newtown, Conn., the alleged perpetrator of the mass killing of innocent people seems to have been mentally unstable. The man who shot Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and the Army officer who killed soldiers at Fort Hood, Texas, also seemed to have at least some sign of mental instability.

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) -- For the third time in four years, the Denver Broncos are dealing with the death of a teammate. Wide receiver Kenny McKinley was found dead in his home Monday in an apparent suicide. Arapahoe County Sheriff Grayson Robinson said authorities were called to McKinley's home in Centennial at 3:35 p.m. local time and found McKinley's body in the second-floor master bedroom. He said detectives believe McKinley, 23, was killed by a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

The body of a 54-year-old Frederick, Md., man was pulled from the Potomac River at Point of Rocks State Park on Sunday, according to a Maryland State Police news release. Police found a suicide note in the man's home, state police said. The body was taken to the chief medical examiner's office in Baltimore to determine the cause and manner of death. A bicyclist reported seeing the body in the water along the river bank around 4 p.m. Sunday, police said. Carroll Manor Fire Co. firefighters recovered the body, which was in a cove along the river.

Recently, an acquaintance of mine used a gun to commit suicide. This person had been depressed for years and had several recent traumatic events occur that I believe added to the depression. Though suicided by guns figures prominently in this column, I am not writing about weapons. This column is about mental health. In shooting incidents in Aurora, Colo., and Newtown, Conn., the alleged perpetrator of the mass killing of innocent people seems to have been mentally unstable. The man who shot Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and the Army officer who killed soldiers at Fort Hood, Texas, also seemed to have at least some sign of mental instability.

Suicide is the second-leading cause of death among West Virginians between the ages of 15 and 24, Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin told more than 300 Hedgesville High School students at an assembly Monday. He said it's a “heartbreaking” statistic. Earlier Monday in Charleston, W.Va., Tomblin signed a proclamation proclaiming this week as Suicide Prevention Week in the Mountain State. It is also National Suicide Prevention Week. According to Tomblin, a suicide occurs every 14 seconds in the United States.

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) -- For the third time in four years, the Denver Broncos are dealing with the death of a teammate. Wide receiver Kenny McKinley was found dead in his home Monday in an apparent suicide. Arapahoe County Sheriff Grayson Robinson said authorities were called to McKinley's home in Centennial at 3:35 p.m. local time and found McKinley's body in the second-floor master bedroom. He said detectives believe McKinley, 23, was killed by a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

BEDFORD, Va. (AP) -- A Bedford County judge has ordered the Lynchburg News & Advance to disclose the name of a person who anonymously posted comments about a murder trial on the newspaper's website. The poster claimed to be one of the jurors who convicted former Chesapeake school administrator Wesley Earnest of murdering his estranged wife, Jocelyn Branham Earnest. The poster said the jury reviewed the victim's journals, but those materials were not introduced into evidence.

HANCOCK - A man with what authorities believe were self-inflicted stab wounds was found Friday in Hancock's Widmeyer Park. The man was taken to Washington County Hospital in critical condition, according to Washington County Sheriff's Department deputies. Hancock Town Manager David Smith was the first to spot the man. "He was outside his car on the ground," Smith said. Sometimes people will sleep in vehicles in the park, but Smith was suspicious because the man was on the ground.

HANCOCK -- A man with what authorities believe were self-inflicted stab wounds was found Friday in Hancock's Widmeyer Park. The man was taken to Washington County Hospital in critical condition, according to Washington County Sheriff's Department deputies. Hancock Town Manager David Smith was the first to spot the man. "He was outside his car on the ground," Smith said. Sometimes people will sleep in vehicles in the park, but Smith was suspicious because the man was on the ground.

HAGERSTOWN - The man responsible for a botched murder-suicide pleaded guilty Thursday morning in Washington County Circuit Court to attempted first-degree murder of his ex-girlfriend. Mark Steven Sande, 42, asked his ex-girlfriend if she was "ready to meet Jesus" and then slashed her in the face and neck repeatedly with a razor-like weapon Dec. 4, 2006, Assistant State's Attorney Viki Pauler said Thursday as she recited the state's statement of facts. Washington County Circuit Judge M. Kenneth Long Jr. accepted Sande's guilty plea and ordered a presentence investigation.

MARTINSBURG, W.VA. - Jury selection is expected to begin at 9 a.m. today in Berkeley County Circuit Court in the trial of a man allegedly hired to kill Debbie K. Bivens of Inwood, W.Va., in August 2005. In a pretrial hearing Monday for Timothy Charles Odell, 23rd Judicial Circuit judge Christopher C. Wilkes decided to allow a suicide note - apparently written by the man who hired the accused - to be introduced to the jury as part of the state's case. The jury is expected to be selected from a pool of 50 people.

MARTINSBURG, W.VA. - A man who is accused in the slaying of an Inwood, W.Va., woman in August 2005 gave a statement to police that is admissible as evidence in his Sept. 26 trial, Berkeley County Circuit Judge Christopher C. Wilkes ruled Friday. Timothy Charles Odell, 26, was indicted in February by a grand jury on one count each of murder and conspiracy to commit murder after allegedly agreeing to kill Debbie K. Bivens, 46, at her Camelot subdivision home. "I'm finding that the statement was voluntarily given ... " Wilkes said after reviewing a transcript of a digital video disc recording provided by Odell's court-appointed attorney, B. Craig Manford.